How long will cortisol remain elevated post-cycle?
If it can be contained to a week or less, then it might actually have adavantages as far as training adaptations are concerned, and negative effects would be minimal....
Longer than a week and I would be concerned about it's negative effects.
An often overlooked aspect of the stress response is the enhancement of the cell-mediated immune system for a short period, (say 30 minutes or so). After that it will begin to drop back down to baseline, and if glucocorticoids remain elevated, they will continue to drop below baseline, (you already know this, but I'm just trying to get to my point).
During short periods of time, a 'suppressed' immune system isn't such a bad thing. Glucocorticoids are selective to which cells are being removed from circulation; they remove the oldest and least responsive first, in a way that 'skulps' the immune system to function as rapidly as possible. And not only that, but these older cells aren't just being trashed; they are being escorted to the front lines - to the site of inflamation.
I, myself, seem to be a strange case. I almost never experience any swelling of any type. I don't really experience symptoms of low test or elevated estrogen off cycle either, (which is usually the case with autoimmune disease). I think I might actually be a little corticoid deficient. MRI's and X-rays have revealed erosions of most joints in my body as well. They are all painful at times. I'm constantly yo-yoing between intestinal flare's as well. Short stints of prednisone have become my savior. And when used for 6 days at a time, I rarely even see water retention. The only effect I notice is sense of well being and increased hunger.
Maybe a better/healthier protocol would be to start the 7-OXO or DHEA a week after the beginning of PCT? Or do you have any other ideas for keeping things humming along at a normal/baseline level? There must be a way to balance cortisol nicely just like one would use an AI at a low dose to keep estrogen in a normal range.
Sorry to hijack the thread.